Thoughts, reflections, views and news from the Chief Executive

Building digital leadership throughout the Council

Following on from my recent post on the roll-out of Office 365, the latest step on the Council’s digital journey brought managers from across our functions together for a valuable event with a focus on digital leadership.

The session was designed to provide food for thought as we continue to build the Council of the future and complements work that’s being done by Chief Officers across every function and cluster to shine a light on opportunities to embrace the art of the possible.

My thanks go to the recently formed digital design team for their hard work and energy in hosting this event and others on the same theme in recent weeks.

With guests from the University of Aberdeen and input from other specialists from inside and outside the organisation, everything from Artificial Intelligence, big data and automation to smart technology that could help us tell when a particular street or stretch of pavement needs treated in winter weather was covered.

Digitalisation is already improving service for our customers and helping us to work more efficiently – but we’ve only just scratched the surface.

The roll-out of end to end online application forms, for example, is something we are able to get on and do now, but the really interesting and exciting applications of technology are several levels above that.

Most haven’t been invented yet. Some are incredibly complex. The best ideas are likely to be very simple.

If 20 years ago someone had said you would be able to carry your entire music collection around in your pocket or order supermarket shopping while sitting on a bus, you would have raised an eyebrow. Music streaming, online shopping and all the other advances smart technology has brought are just part of life now and we want to harness the local government equivalents of these complex but simple solutions to make life better for residents, businesses and staff.

All of us are on a very steep learning curve but I’ve been really encouraged by the positivity I’ve seen. The pace is already building and I’m keen to see that ramp up even further.

Our digital future will be shaped by the ideas and creativity of our workforce and the beauty is there are opportunities in every part of the business to contribute. If you haven’t been involved already, I’m sure you soon will be.

The taster session that took place for managers in recent weeks came with an ask that the knowledge and information that is building in the Council is shared, discussed and used as a catalyst for digital innovation.

Wherever you work and in whatever your role, give thought to how technology can make a difference to the customers you serve and to you and your colleagues as you go about your duties.